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annietaber 's review for:

Close to Home by Michael Magee
4.0
challenging dark hopeful reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

One of the first modern working class novels I’ve resonated with. Somehow this book manages to be a compulsively easy read and a deep study of what it is to be young and working class in Belfast. I learned a lot and felt SO much for these characters. Heartbreaking (and somehow still hopeful??) meditation on the impossibility of escaping where we come from